Raurkela History, India

One would be shocked to know that the city of Rourkela and the land surrounding it was initially just a dense forest. In last couple of years, the city of Rourkela has faced huge development and slowly the Steel Township, the Fertilizer Township, and the Civil Township has increased the importance of Rourkela on Indian map.

In its early years the railway station in Mahulpali, a small village was the only way for people of Rourkela to enjoy train journeys. At that time, Rourkela was even smaller than Mahulpali and was located around 2 kilometers from the village.

It was the Bengal - Nagpur Railway Corp. (famous by the name of B.N.R Corp.) which launched railways that ran through the growing city of Rourkela. This initial Rourkela is now known by the name of Old Rourkela because development has shifted to surrounding areas which are more rich in terms of natural minerals. This company started to settle in the city of Rourkela and started the Nagpur - Howrah railways all by itself. This turned out to be a big boon for the city of Rourkela.

The land around the Rourkela Railway Station was declared as urban town for the city somewhere in 1931 due to its growing population. Some tea shops, a primary school, a post office, a Forrester office, and some liquor shops had popped up in this area during those days. Rourkela got the tag of Junction when a railway line connecting Birmitrapur was started from the Rourkela Railway Station.

The first sub - divisional civil court was started somewhere in 1945 near Rourkela thus marking another milestone in its growth. After the Indian Independence Rourkela was gifted with a huge Steel Plant as its soil was rich in iron ore. This plant was built to meet the ever increasing requirements of newly independent India. Around 80 square miles of land was used by the Indian Government to start this steel plant.

Rourkela has faced heavy construction in last couple of decades and this has resulted in a rare Fertilizer Plant, a huge Steel plant, and many other famous industries in the industrial area of Rourkela. This has given jobs to many locals and improved the living of many families.